just disappeared, and we found out later he'd taken taxpayers' money and turned up in uraguay. >> ron reagan, thank you. ingenious exoneration. didn't leave the place. hogan gidley. "politics nation" with al sharpton starts right now. thanks, chris. thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's leading with calling out the gop today. president obama ripped republicans in congress for the hypocrisy and selfness on automatic budget cuts that are hurting millions of americans. at a news conference today, the president unmasked the phony gop argument. >> a lot of members of congress were suggesting that somehow the sequester was a victory for them and this wouldn't hurt the economy. what we now know is that what i warned earlier, what jay stood up here and warned repeatedly,

is happening. it slowed our growth. it's resulting in people being thrown out of work. and it's hurting folks all across the country. >> these budget cuts are hurting. but republicans refuse to do the right thing. >> you seem to suggest that somehow these folks over there have no responsibilities and that my job is to somehow get them to behave. that's their job. they are elected, members of congress are elected in order to do what's right for their constituencies and for the american people. >> to a lot of americans, it seems like these republicans in congress only take action if the problem affects them personally. last night jon stewart took a look at why lawmakers fixed only the budget cuts that were affecting air travel.

>> why, perchance, that part of the so quester. >> a few members after voting members left capitol hill and headed to the airport for a week long recess. >> oh, right! oh, right! because it's the problem from the sequester that affects them. they don't care about meals on wheels unless it's rolling down an aisle. >> that's funny. but what's not funny is that the joke is on the american people. every day we're getting reports from all across the country. >> meals on wheels has served a lot of seniors in our area. the scary thing is, they don't know how much is going to be cut. >> the seniors are not only going to miss out on the nutrition, but that daily check from the delivery driver. >> we're looking at thousands and thousands of young children who won't get services across the nation if sequestration stays in place. >> those on unemployment say the

pain cuts deeper. >> it's bad for me. i mean, i'm a mom of three kids. and i've been job seeking since i've been laid off from two jobs. >> head start meant to help low income children really feeling it. >> my concern is that often the folks that we see don't often have a voice the same way many of the travelers who are impacted by the faa furloughs did. >> kids on head start. seniors with meals on wheels. they deserve to have their voices heard. even if they don't have an army of expensive lobbyists in washington. the president said today, time for politicians to listen. joining me now, krystal ball and david corn. thank you both for being here. >> thanks for having us. >> my pleasure. >> krystal, let me ask you, can the president apply enough shame and political pressure on the republicans to force them to act on these budget cuts? >> i'm hopeful.

i'm an optimistic person, and i'm hopeful. but i think it's going to take a lot more of what he did today. frankly, the republican position on the sequester has been dizzying. at first they hated it. it was a sledge ma'hammer. it was going to be devastate ing. then they decided they liked it. now they decided these parts of it they don't like and they're going to blame the president for that piece. i think he really has to keep highlighting what the sequester means not just to air travel, but to a whole gamut of really important as much ass. as you pointed out in the lead, i think this is so important. you know, the people who are depending on meals on wheels, the people who are depending on head start, they don't have expensive lobbyists as you said, they don't have superpacs. they have the least power. people at the lower end of the spectrum just don't have a voice and aren't organized to have that voice. i think that's why you're seeing this focus on things that

frankly aren't as critical as some of the other issues that are being hurt by the sequester. >> david, the president really addressed what he feels the gop lawmakers are really worried about in these budget cuts. because one has to say, how can they have a blind eye to how this impacts regular, ordinary people and those that are depending on some of these things? here's what the president said is what they're really worried about. >> they're worried about their politics. it's tough. their base thinks that compromise with me is somehow a betrayal. they're worried about primaries. and i understand all that. and we're going to try to do everything we can to create a permission structure for them to be able to do what's going to be best for the country. >> david, you're there in washington. you talk to people there. why are they so out of touch?

is it that they are afraid of right wing primaries and they just can't find the courage to stand up to the right wing of their party who may challenge them? >> you know, i'm not sure they're out of touch and they're doing something that they don't want to be doing on their own. it's possible that the president made a miscalculation early on with this deal. the whole point of the sequester, if you go back a year and a half to the -- you know, the debt ceiling debacle, was that we'd come up with this punishment that was so tough on both sides, republicans and the democrats in the white house, that they would have to get together and cobble together a more reasonable deal. and what was tough for the republicans, supposedly, was that the sequester would apply to pentagon spending, which they've always loved and have always defended. krystal was right to say early on, they said the sequester was horrible because it would hurt the pentagon spending.

but to get out of the sequester they would have to agree to some degree of tax revenue increases and give up some of their tax cuts for the wealthy. >> right. >> and as you know, as we've seen now, when it comes to this calculation, the republicans are generally saying, you know, pentagon cuts, you know, taxes for the rich, we'll go with pentagon cuts. because we don't care about head start, meals on wheels, public defenders. you know, federal parks and all that. we never cared to -- cared about that in the beginning. so this is where the president thought he was trying to hit them with a hammer, and they're saying we'll take that hit if we still don't have to deal with you and taxes. >> when you look at the fact, krystal, i mean, let's look at the effects of the budget cut. 600,000 women and children lose nutrition aid. 125,000 families lose housing aid. 70,000 kids lose head start. 25,000 fewer cancer screenings.

i mean, when you look at who's impacted by this, when you look at who can't defend themselves in some of the cases, the se seniors and these kids, have we become so insensitive in washington these people are just -- you know, they're expendable at the alter of my political career? >> yeah. i think david is right. a lot of what republicans do, their rhetoric around deficit cuts is really an excuse to try to cut exactly these kinds of programs. and even if you're a totally utterly heartless person and you could care less whether that senior gets their food, their meals on wheels that week, you're really being penny wise and pound foolish. ultimately you want to have kids going to preschool so that they can participate in the labor market later on. you want seniors to be healthy and getting good nutrition so they don't wind up in nursing homes or more expensive hospital care.

so it's foolish even just from a plain fiscal conservative point of view. and one other thing i'll point out here that makes this whole conversation utterly absurd, we're making these huge cuts at a time when, "a", the economy is still struggling. "b," the deficit is dropping rapidly. "c," this is the first quarter where we will actually be paying down the debt. the whole construct of this conversation is ridiculous. >> and in this construct, people are suffering. that's my point. >> that's exactly right. >> yes. >> real live people are suffering. now, david, let me ask on another point. maybe we can make some progress. the president did seem to be confident about immigration reform. >> right. >> despite the dysfunction in congress. let me show you what he said about that. >> i feel confident that the bipartisan work that's been done on immigration reform will result in a bill that passes the senate, passes the house, and gets on my desk. and that's going to be a historic achievement. and i'm -- i've been very

complimentary of the efforts of both republicans and democrats in those efforts. >> do we have a shot at immigration reform? i'm out of time, but i want you to respond, david? >> well, i think it's the president's job to be optimistic. and probably a good chance they can get something out of the senate. i still wonder whether there's going to be a republican civil war in the house over supporting whatever it is that comes out of the senate. so i think we're a long way from seeing this become a real law. >> well, krystal ball and david corn, we're going to have to leave it there. thanks for your time. be sure to catch krystal on "the cycle" weekdays 3:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. ahead, bad news for a rising star in the republican party. the fbi is now looking into whether he committed a crime. this one could have a big fallout. and a surprising development for the man accused of murdering trayvon martin.

big news from sanford, florida. with the trial just six weeks away. and the fight night down south. mark sanford left his wife for his girlfriend. but it was his political opponent who slapped him down last night. >> when we talk about fiscal spending and we talk about protecting the taxpayers, it opportunity mean you take that money we saved and leave the country for a personal purpose. my mantra? trust your instincts to make the call. to treat my low testosterone, my doctor and i went with axiron, the only underarm low t treatment. axiron can restore t levels to normal in about 2 weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied

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have you joined the "poli c "politics nation" conversation on facebook yet? we hope you will. today our fans were buzzing over this photo of president obama meeting jack hoffman. he's the 7-year-old cancer patient who starred in this

video, scoring a touchdown during a nebraska cornhusker spring game. check it out. >> gives it to jack. there he goes. got blockers out in front. >> there he goes. >> running to mid field. listen to this crowd as jack hoffman, the young man that as i mentioned has really been adopted by this football team, just scored a touchdown. >> oh, wow. what a moment. >> wow. what a moment is right. betty says, i never thought i would cry over a touchdown, but i did for this one. joe says, what a beautiful story. thumbs up to nebraska. frank says, this young fellow is a hero in his own right and deserving of the president's praise. we want to hear what you think about this one, too. please head over to facebook and search politics nation and like us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends.

>> mid field. listen to this crowd as jack hoffman, young man that, as i mentioned, has really been adopted by this football team, just scored a touchdown. >> oh, wow. what a moment. everybody has different investment objectives, ideas, goals, appetite for risk. you can't say 'one size fits all'. it doesn't. that's crazy.

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probe prior to undergoing an abortion. now he's getting a probe of his own. today we learned fbi agents are looking into a relationship between mcdonnells and a major campaign donor. agents are asking an associate about mcdonnells about gifts provided to the family by star scientific gene executive jon nirks er. williams seniors. actions the republican governor and his wife may have taken that boosted the company. williams covered the $15,000 that catered for the wedding of mcdonnell's daughter. and the mcdonnells family vacationed at a lake house owned by williams and drove the executive's ferrari from the home back to richmond. it was this ferrari, to be exact. and today mcdonnell responded to the news. >> i've been blessed to have a lot of friends, and mr. williams and his wife celeste have been family friends for four or five

years. but i think it's important that the people of virginia know that nothing has been done with regard to my relationship with mr. williams or his company star scientific to give any kind of special benefits to him or his company. >> special benefits? that's where things get tricky. williams' company sells this nono non-fda approved dietary supplement. and just three days before their daughter's wedding mrs. mcdonnell flew to florida to tout the drug at a gathering of doctors and investors. huh? what a coincidence. the mcdonnells also allowed the company to hold an event promoting the supplement at the governor's mansion. at one point there was even a photo of mcdonnell smiling and holding the supplement on the company's facebook page. hmm. how about that? looks like this is one virginia

probe that's needed. joining me now is "washington post" nia malika hepderson. thanks for coming on the show tonight. >> great to be here, rev. >> if this probe is involving, you know, the fbi probe can't be a good thing. what can you tell us tonight about this probe? >> that's right. where the main focus of this probe is trying to figure out if, in fact, there was a relationship where there was quid pro quo from this donor, who owns -- or who's the head of a pharmaceutical company, to the governor. as you laid out there, they are personal friends. they've been friends for about five years. and the governor and his family have gotten gifts from mr. williams. now, in virginia, candidates can get gifts or elected officials can get gifts from donors. but they just have to report them if they're over $50. and family members as well can get gifts as well. in that sense, he hasn't broken

any laws. now this probe is trying to figure out if, in fact, the governor has given any incentives, any financial incentives, to his friend to promote this company. so far there isn't any evidence of any wrong doing. but it certainly doesn't look good in terms of the governor having to come out and say, listen, folks in virginia, you can trust me. that there hadn't been so far any evidence of a quid pro quo. but we do know this is an ongoing investigation. that's the ultimate question that these fbi investigators are trying to answer. >> now, in addition to gifts, jonnie williams, the owner of the company, he was a big campaign contributor to mcdonnell. he and his company gave mcdonnell and his political action committee more than $120,000 in publicly disclosed campaign donations and gifs. as your paper "the washington post" promotes, this supplement was really important to the

company. it was, quote, crucial to the future of the company which has been losing money for years. so it was when the first lady of virginia went to florida and touted this in front of investors and when they allowed this to have a reception of sorts at the governor's mansion, this was extremely important to this particular entrepreneur. >> that's right. the governor has said, a, this is his friend. b, he is doing this to promote virginia businesses and to promote the virginia economy in his capacity as governor. that so far has been his explanation. i think another thing that eventually i think people will start to look at is whether or not his attorney general, ken cuccinelli, who has also benefited from donations from mr. williams, whether or not there's any connection there. we, of course, know that ken cuccinelli is running for governor. will be on the ballot in 2013 in

the fall of this year. and so that also is something that people are talking about in virginia. as you mentioned, mcdonnell is, perhaps, was a rising star in the republican party. perhaps on the short list for romney in 2012. and people mentioned his name as a possible candidate for 2016 as well. >> nia-malika, stand by one minute. i want to bring in virginia state senator mark herring. it's currently the democratic candidate for attorney general in that state. state senator herring, thanks for coming on the show tonight. >> thank you for having me. >> now, you were the first one to call for a federal investigation into this relationship. what did you think that the fbi should get involved in? >> well, i first called for an investigation on april 11th. and we were just beginning to learn some facts that came to light because of some reporting that was done in the "washington post" and some stories came out

about some very serious allegations. allegations that the governor accepted a very lavish gift. $15,000. from a company with business in front of the state. not only were there questions about whether the governor was just out promoting the company's product, but the state was in a dispute with the company over a $700,000 tax assessment. and so it's important that virginians know. whether or not there was any influence of public policy, it doesn't smell good. and i thought it was important for virginians to get to the bottom of this. and because of ken cuccinelli's own involvement, it needed to be an outside, independent investigation. >> so they had business in front of the state. there was the question of a tax fight involving $700,000 with the state. i'll tell you something else that was curious to me.

nia-malika said there hasn't been anything illegal disclosed yet. but when you look at something strange, governor mcdonnell said that since this gift to his daughter -- was to his daughter it didn't need to be disclosed. but isn't it strange that someone would pay for the wedding of one's daughter? i mean, you don't pay for your own daughter's wedding? this guy, as you said, paid $15,000. but "the washington post" reports when williams, the donor, overpaid the total catering bill, the $3,500 refund check to the catering was made out to maureen mcdonnell and not to williams or the newly married couple. which means they paid the governor's wife the money back, not the daughter who got married or her new husband. and not back to the guy who overpaid, williams. it's a little strange to me. >> well, it's all very curious.

and that's one of the reasons why we need to have this investigation. to get to the facts. and initially the governor's explanation just raised more questions. initially, he said that there was no need to report it. virginia law didn't require it because it was a gift -- a wedding gift to his daughter. later, we learned that the governor was obligated to pay under the catering contract and that this payment to the caterer relieved him of that obligation. so part of the issue is that the facts that the governor was giving were not very forthcoming. and that the attorney general who might have otherwise been in a position to investigate couldn't do it because he's knee deep in this, too. he didn't disclose his ownership interest in this company when he should have. and so he had to recuse himself from the tax case that he had been handling with this same company for a year or two. and he had an ownership interest in the company that was, itself, undisclosed. and now just recently, we

learned that the attorney general had accepted lavish gifts as well. vacations at a lake house. and didn't disclose it. >> wow. >> and we just now learned about it. >> there's a whole lot of questions. >> that's why this investigation has to be done. >> whole lot of questions here, senator. we're going to keep on it. we're going to watch it. he caught our eye with his probes last year on women. nia-malika henderson and state senator mark hering thank you both for your time this evening. >> thank you. >> thank you, rev. ahead, a major development in the trayvon martin case. we'll have the details. and michele bachmann is playing fast and loose with the facts. while quoting shakespeare. you'll want to hear this. stay with us.

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were in the future. and so it reminds me of the shakespeare line. thousand protesteth too much. >> thou protesteth too much? i think miss bachmann needs a refresher course in shakes peer. while she's at a refresher on her own past. "the washington post" says bachmann voted against the se quest r cuts mainly because it didn't slash spending enough. she wanted more cuts. in fact, "the post" fact checkers gave her four pinocchios for her sudden change of heart. saying she was, quote, reinventing history. did mrs. bachmann seriously think we'd cut her a break for this historical fiction? nice try. but we got you. is the better ch, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. that was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again, and now i gotta take more pills. ♪

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who believes he is in danger does not have to retreat and can defend himself or herself by using force. and it's that law that's at the heart of the case of george zimmerman, who's charged with murder for shooting trayvon martin. but in a florida courtroom today, mr. zimmerman waived his right to an immunity hearing on the stand your ground law that could have cleared him of murder. the former neighborhood watch volunteer admits he shot martin, but says it was in self-defense. but today's news means that there will not be a hearing on stand your ground. but there will be a jury trial expected to start on june 10th. joining me now, benjamin crump, attorney for the trayvon martin's family. attorney crump, thank you for your time. >> thank you, rev, for having me, reverend al. >> let me ask you, what do you make of today's hearing and --

and the move by mr. o'mara and mr. zimmerman, o'mara being his attorney, to wave their right to a trial -- a pretrial hearing for immunity on the grounds of stand your ground law? >> it was quite interesting, reverend sharpton. the state had wanted an inquiry of george zimmerman himself to waive his rights. and the court inquired of him, and he did, in fact, waive those rights. upon advice of counsel. what's interesting about that is, these are extraordinary rights when you consider the stand your ground law. it is a pretrial immunity hearing that says if you prevail, you don't have to stand trial for any civil matter, any criminal matter. in fact, you can't even be arrested. so for him just to waive that hearing says a lot about how strong they really felt their self-defense claim was or their stand your ground claim was. because they just waived it.

>> so this was a big deal in your case. how does this affect, in your opinion, the case for trayvon martin's family who you represent? >> it affects it in a big way because now we know it's definitely going to be a trial. and it really vindicates all the protesters out there who said there should be a trial, he should be arrested for killing an unarmed child. you know, the police said they didn't arrest him because of stand your ground. and they tried to say or they gave way to the masses and the protests. well, you have a judge, a court of law. and if you thought that it was all based on emotion and such, this was your opportunity to have your stand your ground hearing with a judge and a court of law and you just waived that. and that's telling, that how you feel about your case. >> and i think you point out rightly a lot of people, me included, just wanted to see a trial and let the facts be where

they may. but after a lot of people saying stand your ground covered him, for him not to use that today was -- was kind of surprising, let's put it that way, given where we were a year ago in this country on this case. >> absolutely. and this became the litmus test for the stand your ground law, which is still a very new law. it's not well settled. there's a question if they're going to try to argue aspects of the stand your ground law in the actual trial. we believe that would tend to confuse the jury. however, we do know there's going to be a trial and there's going to be a jury who gets to vet all the evidence. we've always believed based on the evidence, and the evidence alone, the jury will hold george zimmerman accountable for killing trayvon martin. >> attorney crump, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you so much, reverend sharpton. now, let's bring in ken patterwitz. he's a former prosecutor, now

criminal defense attorney. ken, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you for having me on, reverend al. >> now, we've talked for a year about the stand your ground law. what did today's news mean in regard to that law and in regard to this case? >> well, this was a tremendous development. i mean, if i was the special prosecutor on this case i would be very concerned about the crafty and very strategic move that the defense did by waiving the stand your ground hearing. this is something that the prosecutor should be very concerned about. because now they do not have an opportunity to have a hearing and cross examine mr. zimmerman and get that testimony out on the record. >> now, let me ask you, the difference now is that he will have to use a self-defense defense at trial? >> absolutely. he now has an affirmative defense, as he always has in florida, of self-defense. and he can use this self-defense argument during the trial.

but he is not going to be able to use the immunity statute of the stand your ground law in florida. the supreme court of florida has carefully laid out that a pretrial hearing has to be held prior to the trial. and in this situation today, the defense has waived, strategically, and very craftily, waived that hearing and decided to go for a trial. >> so when his attorney o'mara says that they can call for a hearing later, you're saying according to florida's supreme court, that is not true. so in many ways, that is off the table in terms of him affirmatively raising this at trial. isn't that a sign of weakness on this? in this stand your ground defense? >> well, you waive a very interesting -- raise a very interesting point, reverend al. because the statute for stand your ground has to be read in conjunction with the florida rules of criminal procedure, which lays the timetable to have this pretrial hearing, a motion to dismiss. and since they're waiving it

now, they're not going to be able to bring this out at the trial. so they're going to be able to use a self-defense argument and we can expect that's what the argument is going to be. but if i'm the prosecutor in that jurisdiction, i'm going to be concerned about today's developments. i think it was a very wise, strategic defense move and the prosecution should be very wary of this. >> now, the bar you have to reach for self-defense is much different than stand your ground. stand your ground, as i said at the beginning, is that you -- if you believe yourself to be in danger, you have no obligation to retreat. that's not true with self-defense. is that not right? >> right. they're two separate and distinct theories, that's correct. the immunity statute for stand your ground is something to ask the court to dismiss charges so that you don't have to stand trial. they're now foreclosing that. the defense is turning their back on that. and they're aiming specifically for a trial. they probably believe that they would lose a stand your ground

hearing in front of a judge. so they're going for all and everything at the trial using a self-defense claim. it's a wise move by the defense. >> but it's also a big gamble by them, because you could win it all or lose it all. >> absolutely. they've now foreclosed the possibility of immunity. now they're going for broke. they're going for all or nothing at the trial stage. >> ken padowitz, we'll leave it there. thank you for being here tonight. >> thank you for having me. >> one note. in civil court george zimmerman has sued nbcuniversal for deaf nation and the company has strongly denied his allegations. we'll be right back. money has to last longer. i don't want to pour over pie charts all day. i want to travel, and i want the income to do it. ishares incomes etfs. low cost and diversified. find out why nine out of ten large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus, which includes

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i wonder if mark sanford is questioning this whole comeback idea. since announcing a run for congress, his campaign has been a train wreck in slow motion. first, he brought his former mistress on stage the night he won the primary. then we learned his ex-wife accused him of trespassing on her property. and i'm still wondering what he was thinking debating a cardboard cutout of nancy pelosi. last night, it was the real thing. no poster boards, no jokes. it was mark sanford debating elizabeth colbert bush. in the race for south carolina's congressional seat. and at this point colbert bush

didn't bring up the elephant in the room. but last night, let's just say sanford wished the cardboard was back. >> when we talk about fiscal spending and we talk about protecting the taxpayers, it doesn't mean you take that money we saved and leave the country for a personal purpose. >> everybody needs to -- >> she -- she went there, governor sanford. >> i couldn't hear what she said. >> oh, yes. she did go there. that appalachian trail might be looking pretty good today. joining me now is dick harpotolian, chairman of the south carolina democratic party. thanks for being here tonight, dick. >> thank you, reverend al. >> you know, after not talking about the affair, she did go there in a big way last night. what do you make of the comment,

chairman harpootlian? >> well, i think that mark sanford feigned deafness last night to not have to answer that question. we've always known he's politically deaf. maybe he's really deaf. the most fascinating thing about the debate last night was mark sanford who's been in political office for 20 years and supposed to be a very adept politician just got knocked around by elizabeth colbert bush last night and clearly was shaken by a number of the assaults she made on him about voting against funding to build a bridge here in charleston, voting against federal money to deepen the port here so to be competitive with other ports on the east coast and able to accept these big ships from panama. she had him reeling. it was a wonderful thing to watch. >> before we get away from the affair, the moderator kind of pressed sanford on the affair. listen to this. >> when you were in congress,

you voted for the defense of marriage act and to impeach president clinton for an extramarital affair. would you vote those ways again? >> well, i -- i would reverse them to you. and i would say this. do you think that president clinton should be condemned for the rest of his life based on a mistake that he made in his life? >> now, this seems to be sanford's defense, dick. how will that play in south carolina? >> not -- not well at all. i mean, at the time that he voted for president clinton's impeachment, he said it's not that he lied under oath, but he lied to his wife that makes him unfit for public office. that was the quote from him. you'll see it in tv ads down here. so, i mean, this guy is -- he's all over the map on the affair. by the way, reverend al, today, not an hour ago, larry flint, publisher of "hustler" endorsed

mark sanford, sent him a check for $2,600, calling him, quote, a sexual pioneer and a man of the hour, the midnight hour. i mean, mark sanford earned the endorsement of larry flint of "hustler" magazine. this is a big development down here. >> let me can you about another endorsement. his ex-wife. has she endorsed him? what role will she play in this campaign, now that it's come out that she's reported he trespassed. >> she's already played a role in the campaign by reporting that. she has allowed the public to see the real mark sanford. if you remember correctly, he humiliated her on an international scale with his trip to argentina to see his mistress using, by the way, taxpayer funds to pay for first class tickets to do that. and i think that's a little bit of pay back now. the talk in charleston is not so much about the political issues, but the night he brought -- he won the primary and his -- his

fiancee shows up on the stage, if you look at the faces on his children, it's clear -- at that point it was clear they were uncomfortable. then jenny sanford revealed a few days later they'd never met her. the children had never met his fiancee, quote -- slash mistress until that night in a public forum on the stage. >> how does that play -- how does that play in south carolina? because it's a very conservative family values kind of state. how does that play in south carolina? >> it don't play at all, as we say in south carolina. he's in trouble with women. he's in trouble with people that value family values. and he just brushes it off and says, you know, i've been forgiven by my lord so i ought to be forgiven by you. reverend al, you can speak to that more eloquently than i can, but i think maybe -- maybe god has forgiven him. but i don't think the voters of the first district will. >> well, there's a difference between forgiveness and being elected. you can be forgiven. but you have to be elected if

you're going to congress. dick harpootlian, thank you for your time tonight. ahead, a survivor of the boston bombing tells his indescribable story. next. [ male announcer ] you know that guy

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♪ tonight the powerful example of courage from boston. 35-year-old jerry clouery was watching the marathon with some friends. and was just a few feet away from the second bomb when it exploded. his legs and hands were badly burned. his doctor says he's removed a dozen nails from his body. 22 bbs are still in his body. today jared was cleared to leave the hospital. but before leaving, he told his

incredible story. >> i look at my hand, and it was too much to look at so i tuck it in and i feel my legs. i look down and i -- i didn't want to look at those anymore. so i just knew to get to the middle of the road and -- and that's -- you know, that's when a couple off duty state police got to me. you know, and i -- i said, help me, help me. and, oh, there they are. jeff manino and karen morehead. i don't need to look at my notes. you know, i'm standing up and he's -- i tell him, take a look at me. i don't know what's happening around my back or anything like this. so he looks at me and says, you're going to be okay. and i tell him, you'd tell anybody that, you know. and he says, jared, believe me when i tell you, there's worse out here than you. and that's when i remembered my friends.

and i said, oh, my god. my friends. my friends are all dead. you know, this is what i thought. and those two -- those two right there, they managed to sit me down and they -- and they managed to -- they managed to -- they managed to get me in the ambulance. they stayed with me until i got in the ambulance. and -- and that's when i think was the beginning of -- of the real message. you know, it turns out that all three of my friends -- you know, all my friends sustained injuries. three of my friends lost limbs. but, you know, i feel -- i feel blessed. when i got to the emergency department, you know, i'm in pain. it's kind of chaos. and they're moving seamlessly. they know what each other's thinking. the emergency room's chaos, but it's working perfectly. and that's when i said in my

head, i've never -- and this is what i said, too. i've never seen in all the years in new england tom brady put a drive together that was as good as this -- what these people were doing. it was amazing to me. no disrespect to tom brady. i love him, you know. but he can't hold a candle to the people i just mentioned. >> a powerful story. but the survivors of the attack still face a long road ahead. to find out how you can help jared and other victims affected by the tragedy, visit onebostonfund.org. we cannot be epidodal and just react for a week or two. we must remember the long road ahead for them and help them every step of the way. don't let the headlines dictate your compassion. don't let the headlines dictate

how long you have interest and concern. even when it's no longer on the front page, let's have it in the front of our minds to help fellow americans that, for no fault of their own, have a long road of trying to recover. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. stop the guillotine. let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this. there are people in this country, believe it or not, who believe the best way to get rich people to work harder is to give them tax benefits. that the best way to get the poor to work harder is to cut their benefits. got it? give the carrot to the better off, give the stick to the worse